Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service

This is a discussion on Review: Uber Premium Taxi Service within Street Experiences, part of the Buckle Up category; Originally Posted by aditya101
Cash provides the "trust" factor. Customers know that their cabbies cannot take them for a ride ...

Cash provides the "trust" factor. Customers know that their cabbies cannot take them for a ride [ ] when it comes to bill settlement. The few stories shared above are a testament.

To an extent. But don't you think if there are any billing issues arguing with the customer service will be more easy than arguing with driver while handling the cash. That is what the problem is in using Autos.
Arguing with autodrivers has left a bad taste and hence whenever I travel I use uber for their USP of cashless travel.

But don't you think if there are any billing issues arguing with the customer service will be more easy than arguing with driver while handling the cash.

The issues related to haggling with auto wallahs arise mainly from tampered meters or absence of it altogether. I have used Ola cabs service by cash, and not once faced any haggling. However, i make it a point to pay exact or close change as payment. Any small change difference I leave as tip.

Do be wary of spending more than how much money you have in your wallet, cause I was a regular user of Uber, and don't really understand when they decide to do this.

My dad is a daily user of Uber as in his only mode of transport to/from work.

He faces the low funds frequently as he doesn't like to add a large amount in the paytm wallet. He usually does 100.

Till now he only faced one issue when he made a trip worth more than 200 and the account was asking to complete payment before next cab booking.

The paytm wallet linked for some reason was not showing and he had to send a mail for them to check.

Other than that he is very happy using Uber and does it himself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by msdivy

Everybody else has cashless option now. What is the USP then for Uber? They have failed to provide a convenient way of paying with 2 factor authentication with cards. So cash is the last resort for them.

Majority of the drivers are still polite. The cancellation % is very less. He has tried Meru, Ola taxi4sure and gave up on all these till Uber was launched. Even now he still prefers Uber. Occasionally he books Ola when nothing is available but is always complaining of cab condition or driver behaviour.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aditya101

The issues related to haggling with auto wallahs arise mainly from tampered meters or absence of it altogether. I have used Ola cabs service by cash, and not once faced any haggling. However, i make it a point to pay exact or close change as payment. Any small change difference I leave as tip.

There in lies the problem with cash transaction. You need to either adjust the change for driver and give him the balance since he wont have change or carry exact change.

Then the driver can demand to pay 50 extra for no reason. There's no way to account for this.

Of course, owners will also now be suspicious that the drivers are accepting cash payments on the side and not giving him his due share- and will start changing the model to match the other aggregators viz. fixed fee per day, and earn what you (the driver) can. Maintenance will go for a toss as well. I used to love Uber's neat and clean cabs.

Of course, with this one move, Uber has brought itself down from a differentiated service provider to "just-one-of-'em". Its race to the bottom from now on.

The Delhi government is really acting ridiculous. Uber is a boon, not a bane. The cabs used by Uber are licensed tourist taxis - Uber is just a more efficient way to book them. On the cash transaction bit, as long as the customer gets to choose to pay using PayTM, don't have an issue with a cash option. Ideally, the RBI needs to change its silly rule and let us pay with credit cards instead of giving PayTM a free ride on our money.

The Delhi government is really acting ridiculous. Uber is a boon, not a bane. The cabs used by Uber are licensed tourist taxis - Uber is just a more efficient way to book them.

I am not sure about that sir. Aren't all licensed taxis supposed to have yellow number plates? I have taken 5 rides with Uber till date and only once the cab was a yellow plate one. Rest of the time it was a private car being run life a taxi which I think is in violation of the law.

Also just like Ola, Uber should also get their logo painted on these cabs. It will help increase their visibility and also induces more confidence as a customer regarding the credentials of the cab.

I am not sure about that sir. I have taken 5 rides with Uber till date and only once the cab was a yellow plate one. Rest of the time it was a private car being run life a taxi .

Quote:

Originally Posted by pratyush6

That is indeed strange - Has never happened with me so far here in Bangalore and I am take around 4-5 trips per week.

Same here in Bombay. All Ubers have either been Black on Yellow or Yellow on Black cars, never seen a private car plate. A private car used as a taxi is clearly illegal. (Though I have seen it happen on rentals from small local agencies reached thru Yellow Pages).

Now the Department of Telecom (DoT) has now issued a letter to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ordering them to block access to the URLs and asked for a compliance report on the same.

The step has been taken following a request from the Delhi government.

DoT got a request from Delhi Government to ban these apps. ISP can block websites, ip address for the whole country. Not sure how can they block only for a city. I don't think this block is enforceable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hayek

Ideally, the RBI needs to change its silly rule and let us pay with credit cards instead of giving PayTM a free ride on our money.

Worldwide merchants have the option to opt for 2 factor authentication. So incase of any fraud, merchants take the hit. Case in point, American retail Target lost credit card details of about 70 million of its customers. The cost of replacing all these credit cards cost around $400 million dollars. This is huge money and Target & banks are still passing the buck on who should take the hit.

In India, merchants don't have the option. It is mandatory to use 2 factor authentication. I feel safe with move by RBI. Now, I am comfortable handing over my card in restaurants, shops & online, without the fear of anybody noting down the card number & CVV. Just with these, they cannot make any purchase. They would also need to know the pin, which only I know.

Uber couldn't figure out a way of accepting payment from its customers with 2 factor authentication. Their PayTM plan is pretty lame. What if tomorrow US & Europe mandate 2 factor authentication? What will Uber do then?

All my UBER rides have been a black on yellow board cars, mostly Etios or Verito's. Never have come across a privately registered car sent to me. I assume that the the drivers, using a yellow plate, have some form of a license for commercial servicing of their vehicles. Although the are no stickers on the car indicating that is a UBER vehicle. The only indication being the vehicle number sent via the app, and the GPS system app running inside the car. Guess UBER stickers on the vehicles should help to distinguish.

So then clearly Uber is still not serious in its verification process as in the 5 trips that I have taken so far in Delhi, 4 were regular private number plates. I thought after the ban, they must have got that aspect pretty figured out.

The cars are generally those belonging to various "xyz travels" type small outfits operating in the various cities and who have tourist cab licenses, though not regular taxi licenses.

Uber's bills if I remember right carry a one liner at the bottom that says "service provided by partner xyz tours and travels" or something of the sort.

I haven't yet seen a white board car being operated as an uber vehicle but that is likely because some private taxi companies are illegally operating private vehicles to carry passengers (which invalidates private car insurance by the way).

Quote:

Originally Posted by ukamath

All my UBER rides have been a black on yellow board cars, mostly Etios or Verito's. Never have come across a privately registered car sent to me. I assume that the the drivers, using a yellow plate, have some form of a license for commercial servicing of their vehicles. Although the are no stickers on the car indicating that is a UBER vehicle. The only indication being the vehicle number sent via the app, and the GPS system app running inside the car. Guess UBER stickers on the vehicles should help to distinguish.

So then clearly Uber is still not serious in its verification process as in the 5 trips that I have taken so far in Delhi, 4 were regular private number plates. I thought after the ban, they must have got that aspect pretty figured out.

This is very strange. I use Uber 3-4 a month on an average. I have always got a Dzire/Etios (UberX) with taxi plates. The only unusual time, was when a Etios came to pick me dressed in Meru Plus livery. This particular driver probably worked two jobs.

After firing up the app and requesting a car, there's this notification which comes as 'Your Uber is on the way with Drivers name, Number, Model of Car and registration number. I always glance at the car's number on the app before getting into the car just to be double sure, and they have been taxi plates each time. Yellow and belonging to DL 1Y, HR 55, HR 38 series etc etc.

Operating a cab on a private number plate is definitely a violation of the law. Also,it wouldn't need to pay toll tax when entering Delhi from Gurgaon/Noida and Uber would still charge you for it. Would you remember off-hand whether the registration numbers of the cars which came to pick you up,if they weren't yellow plates they must have belonged to the HR 26/51/29, DL 1C/2C/3C or UP 14/16 series. Did it match with the Registration Number given in the app when you ordered the car? Did you notice? Asking because a driver may be violating the Uber policy, by using the App with a car not registered with Uber or something. Usually each driver's profile is linked to a single car on Uber. That's the only thing I can think of.

I don't think Uber would indulge in this sort of a malpractice. Maybe it's something the drivers are doing without Uber's knowledge perhaps? Also, 4 out of 5 times, is quite a startling statistic. You could definitely take this up with Uber!